The WAN Show - MSI & ASUS Shipping OC GTX 1080s to Reviewers?? - June 17, 2016

The WAN Show episode from June 17, 2016 covers a broad mix of tech industry news, platform changes, and the team’s own ongoing experimental ideas for content creation. Early in the show, the hosts address an issue with Amazon affiliate accounts being terminated due to terms of service concerns, explaining the implications for their revenue stream and how they plan to move forward while they reassess their affiliate strategy. They lightheartedly discuss ironic twists in the situation, including potential future videos that play up the irony and even a hypothetical Twitch streaming approach as an alternative to conventional video monetization. The discussion then shifts to a rapid-fire round of tech business and consumer news, highlighting Microsoft’s LinkedIn acquisition and the implications for Microsoft’s cloud services, Office 365, and Dynamics. The hosts contrast LinkedIn with other social platforms, debating how professional networks influence job search and recruitment, and they reflect on how much their own workflows might be affected by the broader corporate consolidation trend. They pivot to entertainment and gaming news, noting Overwatch’s rise in popularity and its impact on League of Legends in Korean PC bangs, while also considering the economics of paid versus free-to-play models. The show then dwells on a surprising rumor about MSI and Asus allegedly shipping VGA review samples with higher clock speeds than retail cards, a topic the hosts treat with a mix of skepticism and curiosity about how review samples can influence public perception. The discussion broadens to hardware technology ideas, including the possibility of smaller processor technologies and a revival of vacuum tube concepts for ultra-low-power, high-performance switches, framed as a thought-provoking look at where silicon technology might go next. The team returns to practical topics with a deeper dive into the marijuana industry’s regulation and Microsoft’s foray into server-side support for seed-to-sale tracking through Azure, a move they describe as bold and strategically interesting in the context of evolving regulatory landscapes. Sponsorships and community tools feature prominently as well, with mentions of Discord and lynda.com as partner sources while they tease upcoming sponsor content and live-streaming concepts. The show then explores viewer feedback and engagement strategies, including a live discussion about YouTube rabbit holes, where the idea of letting an entire cluster of machines autonomously navigate through recommended videos is debated with both curiosity and concern for policy and practicality. The hosts reflect on how Facebook’s local awareness ads may track store visits via location data, debating the ethics and business value of such data while acknowledging the potential impact on advertisers and users alike. Throughout, the tone remains energetic and improvisational, with the hosts riffing on the intersection of consumer hardware, platform economics, and creative video production while inviting audience input on what experiments to try next. Finally, the show circles back to the core WAN Show format, balancing discussions of hardware shipments, software platforms, and audience-driven experiments as potential future content pillars. The overall takeaway is a snapshot of a thriving tech community negotiating revenue, innovation, and creative experimentation in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Topics · technology · business · gaming · internet_culture · consumer_electronics